Maintain accountability in Texas education

CORPUS CHRISTI - According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, Texas has one of the highest graduation rates for all students in the nation. As Commissioner of Education, I recognize and appreciate what this accomplishment truly means.

In a state as large and as diverse as any in the country, Texas' graduation rate of 86 percent is second only to three other states — Iowa, Vermont and Wisconsin. The Lone Star State is first on national graduation rates for white, Asian and African-American students. Our graduation rate is second in the nation for Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students, as well as children with disabilities. In fact, there are numerous other achievements within the federal Education Department numbers of which we, as a state, can be very proud.

This state-by-state comparison represents the first time all states have used a universal measure in tabulating graduation rates and confirms what Texas educators have been saying for a long time. Our public schools are delivering a high-quality education. Thanks to hard work from teachers, administrators, students and parents, more Texas students are earning a high school diploma than ever before.

I firmly believe the path our state chose to take more than a decade ago has brought us to this incredible point. The state's school accountability system has helped shine a light on the issue of high school completion and focused greater attention on raising the state's graduation rate.

Recently, there has been a sense of angst as we transition to the more rigorous State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) end-of-course exams. Such shared test anxiety has come every time our state has moved to a new testing program. To some extent, it is expected and understandable.

However, it should by no means present a misguided opportunity to stray from what has been a successful path.

It's important to remember why the Texas Legislature supported a shift to STAAR. The old Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test had reached the end of its cycle. College and career readiness standards were being put in place. There had to be a new measurement tool to determine how our students were performing on new curriculum standards.

Texans should also keep in mind this is only the second year of implementation for the new tests and will be the first year of implementation for the new accountability system. The Texas Education Agency is gradually phasing in the new passing standards to help reduce the overall impact to students, parents, and teachers.

In addition, I am exploring options for our agency that can help alleviate some of the pressure.

Among those steps, I am again allowing school districts to defer implementation of the 15 percent grading requirement connected to STAAR. Staff at TEA is working to simplify the cumulative scoring model for the end-of-course exams to make it easier to understand. I have reached out to superintendents across the state for recommendations about what can be done — within the context of improving the structure while maintaining the integrity of our accountability system for all students.

The STAAR end-of-course exams do represent a significant increase in rigor. However, every time we have raised the bar for our students in the classroom, they have met the challenge. Now is not the time to abandon a successful path.

The decision to increase rigor and commit to educating every child in every classroom in every school in every district across our great state is paying tremendous dividends today and for our future — and our students hold the diplomas to prove it.